considerations when evaluating financial advisers

There are about 20,000 financial advisers in Singapore. You will probably
contact or get contacted by enthusiastic financial advisors who would like
to serve you.

If you plan to have one (or a few) serve you, you will need to choose
carefully as they will advise you and/or your family for the long term. In
addition, your financial adviser will likely journey with you through the
different stages of life.

You will likely need their support at key events such as having kids or an
unfortunate passing of a loved one. In these times, you will either need to
purchase products such as insurance or make claims. If you buy an
investment product, you will need to review its performance regularly
and analyse whether any adjustment needs to be made as it affects your
investment portfolio.

Thus, the financial advisory service does not end after purchasing
financial products through them as there is post-sales management that
they are committed to.

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considerations when evaluating financial advisers

To filter and qualify who you would like to support you in your financial
planning and management journey, here are some things to consider
when evaluating them before you choose one (or a few):

Character and ethics

How to evaluate: This takes time to assess as you need to get to

know the financial advisor over time. Take your time, have multiple
meetings and ask questions about their background, motivations
and process to understand them more as a person and whether
you can trust them. You can also consider doing background or
reference checks.

Questions to ask yourself:

Is the financial adviser ethical and truly serving your best
interests, not theirs?
Are there any character red flags that pop up during your
interactions with them? E.g. transactional, opportunistic
Are you comfortable when interacting with them? Do you
have a certain level of chemistry?
Are they pushy, or do they focus on understanding your
needs, goals and interests and educating you about how to
achieve them?
Have you spoken to their managers and/or mentors to get a
sense of the company’s culture and how they serve their
clients?
Have you spoken to their reference customer and/or read
reviews/testimonials about their service?

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considerations when evaluating financial advisors

Competency

How to evaluate: Evaluate their knowledge and expertise about the

industry, the products they offer and how they apply them to guide
you in your financial planning and management journey. You
should also evaluate soft skills like communication and empathy.

You can review their credentials and get them to walk through
their process for your profile (needs, goals and interests). You can
even ask them about their process for different customer profiles to
test how adaptable they are. As life progresses, you would want to
know whether they can serve your needs at various stages and
other circumstances.

Questions to ask yourself:

What is their track record like? How long have they been in
the industry, and how well have they served their clients?
Are they a ChFC (chartered financial consultant), CFP
(certified financial planner), the gold standard of financial
planning, CFA (chartered financial analyst) or other relevant
qualifications that demonstrate their ability to handle areas
that you need support in?
Are they well-versed in the products they are selling? Or do
they fumble when explaining or are unable to answer your
questions?
Are they well-versed in specific types of products only or
multiple types? E.g. only insurance products or both
insurance and investment products
How well do they follow up with you? Do they only follow up
when they want to sell you something, or do they have a
regular check-in?
How responsive are they when you communicate with
them?

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considerations when evaluating financial advisers

Scope

How to evaluate: Understand which category of financial advisers

they fall under. Research and assess how comfortable you are with
each category and company they represent.

Different categories have different benefits and limitations to the

products they offer. However, you can consider having multiple
financial advisers serve you if you prefer certain products from
specific companies.

Questions to ask yourself:

Are they personal bankers, tied agents, independent or from
an independently-owned company?
What is the range of products these financial advisers offer
and the companies they represent? How do they compare,
and do they suit my needs?
Which companies I know about or have researched that
have good reviews and a range of products that suit my
needs?
Do I prefer to buy products and get served by a single
financial advisor, or am I comfortable having multiple
advisors?
Do I want a financial adviser that covers multiple ranges of
products from various companies (e.g. advisers from
independent or independently-owned companies)?

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